Pope meets pilgrims of beatifications, speaks of the message of the new blesseds

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2004 / 12:00 am (CNA).- This morning Pope John Paul II received pilgrims who participated yesterday in the beatification of the Servants of God Pierre Vigne, Joseph-Marie Cassant, Anna Katharina Emmerick, Maria Ludovica De Angelis and Charles of Austria, and spoke about the spirituality and message that the new blesseds leave us.
Pierre Vigne and Joseph-Marie Cassant "contemplated the mystery of the Eucharist in the silence of prayer," said the Holy Father. May their example and intercession "help Christian communities today to put the Eucharist, font and summit of the life of the Church, at the center of their life. May it stimulate the missionary impulse which the world needs in order to listen to the Good News!"

He said that the life of Mother Ludovica de Angelis, who worked for many years in a children's hospital in La Plata, Argentina, "was consecrated to the glory of God and to the service of her brothers and sisters. Her life was a continuous path toward sanctity, and now she is an intercessor and witness to charity for us."

The Pope then turned his thoughts to Blessed Anna Katharina Emmerick: "In intimate union with Our Lord Who suffers, the 'mystic from Muenster' fulfilled the word of the Apostles, love for Christ and the Church, in order to complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions," as Paul wrote to the Colossians.

The Pope concluded by recalling that Charles of Austria "always wanted to carry out the will of God. Faith was the foundation of his responsibility as king and as a father. "May we follow his example and also trust in God in our life!"